Eatyu's How ToFirst of all I want to say that this tek is derived from many other teks. It is just my little twist on it. This is simply put, Millet's Tekwith Eat's adaptivity to it. It doesn't mean it is better or worse, it is just a little different with ratios and utensils!
The basis ratio for this tek is basically 50/50 dung/verm. The casing is also 50/50 coir/verm. you can use peat moss but one 1/4 pound coir brick equals the entire casing for one 64 quart bin.
Recipe for 4 -64 quart clear bins for double tubs. Ratios Per Turkey Tins( 4 turkey tins total):12 cups screened worm castings
12 cups vermiculite.
1 quart distilled water
1 quarter pressure cooker bag full of straw per 4 turkey tins
so your total for 4 turkey tins would be 48 cups dung, 48 cups verm and 1 gallon distilled water. we will mix these ratios later but for now we will just tell you these ratios.
supplies needed:2 long sterilized spoons( long enough to break up mycelia in quart spawn jars)
4 turkey tins
vermiculite
dry worm castings
plastic gloves( powder free)
painting mask
ozium or disinfectant spray
rubbing alcohol
finely chopped straw( preferrably chopped with a food processor or wood chipper)
thick foil
terrarium lid for filtering( available at any pet store)
5 quarts of colonized spawn
extra distilled water
2 large glass jars made for pcing, gallon size preferably( these are available at any asian market that sells kim chee- which is a korean cabbage dish) the lids also come autoclaveable! These large jars will be used to make the 50/50 casing soil
ProceduresAll pre steps done the night before
Pre Step-Screen your worm dung with a terrarium lid for a reptile aquarium
Pre Step-2 Finely chop your straw until it is almost 1" to powder size. the smaller the better.
Pre Step 3- soak straw 24 hours, strain then pc for two hours.
Explanation: the finer the straw is the better it mixes into the spawn run. also, the spawn run is much shorter when the mix is more even. now presoak this straw for 24 hours. Then pc the straw for 2 hours at 15 psi. Remember though you don't have to do this straw step until the night before you decide you want to do the spawning. Also, it isn't advisable to keep straw sitting too long even after it has been pced bc straw is very quick to contam. I would suggest keeping it in the pc until you decide it is time to spawn or it would be better to just pc it the night before you spawn.
I often tend to do this in a few steps which make it a little easier. I cook everything the night before and then spawn everything the next day. Just make sure you have a clean working area. Everything can be done open air. It is advisable to run air filters and spray disinfectant spray in the air before you spawn. It is even a good idea to drop the house temp about 5 degrees a few hours before you do the spawning. Then turn the ac off while you do this spawning.
Below is a picture of the texture the straw should be. this has been chopped with a food processor from wallmart. After that picture is a picture of the straw after it is soaked and pced.
Here is another picture of the straw pre soaking. notice in the picture that the larger pieces of straw are right next to the finer pieces. this is for comparison. you do not want anything over 1" pieces. in fact powder straw is even better! this will be pointed out when we get to the spawning section!
Process:1. Add 16 cups screened dung and 16 cups vermiculite to each turkey tin. We do 4 turkey tins with this same ratio in each.
2. You also need your gallon of distilled water for this step.
As you can see the vermiculite and dung are piled in the turkey tin.
....straw amount after being soaked and pced! This is about the amount of straw you need. I would say this is about 1/2 a turkey tin full once it is laid out. There is no ratio just fill a large bowl and soak the straw. then when you pc it try and get about the amount in the picture below. The key to this tek is speedy colonization. Straw contams hella fast so you want the straw to colonize asap. The other principle of this is that you want the dung to soak up the extra water from the straw. If you have overly wet straw you will have microbes growing up the wazoo! I purposely make my mix in the dung/straw a little dry to soak up this extra straw water. Now take note that if you think this ratio seems a little too dry, wait till it is pastuerized. It is definitely the right ratio!
3.Add 1 quart distilled water or 1/4th gallon per turkey tin. you want to mix this using gloves and make it light and fluffy and very soft. it will be pea size particals. just like your pf mix! but just add a little at a time. you may add a little more water than a quart but a quart works perfectly!
4. Ok now one of the keys to this entire tek is this mix. You have to make sure this mix is so light and fluffy it wants to float out of your hands. You can use the drop squeeze between the finger method to make the moisture correct. But this mix actually speeds the colonization.
....Look yummy all nice and shitty. the shittier it looks the better! .......Had to add the shit humor!
5. This is what the mix should look like after you are done mixing by hand! Nice and fluffy! It is very similar in moisture content as the pf jars that I explain how to make in this Journal Area.BRF The Mix
This just explains a little more about moisture content. The flushes with this tek are incredible and don't need more than the correct moisture content. The condensation that is created in these chambers is so high that it renourishes the water back into the substrate for post 1st flushes.
6. Now place the thick large tin foil over the tray so that it is air tight. Make sure the type of foil you use is very wide so that it fits directly over the turkey tin and keeps all the moisture in.
7. Now you have to pastuerize the dung/verm mix in the oven. Preheat your oven to 185 degrees.
8. Place the trays in your oven and cook them for 2-4 hours at 185. The temp may vary dpending on your oven but for the most part you want the inner temp of the mix to be about 160-170 for a steady two hours. I always cook them for 4 hours but friends have had success with 2.
9. You can time this where you can start pcing the straw now. It will take two hours so cooking time is perfect.
10. After the 4 turkey tins are done cooking leave them in the oven to cool overnight.
Here is a picture perfect example of the best shitty mix on earth. Please feel free to copy this picture to your desktop and print it for framing on your wall at home!
This is a snake cage lid for an aquarium. You can get these at any pet store. This is used to screen the dung. Also look in the archives for this. From FM.
Processing Dung
11. Now you must prep everything for spawning. I usually run an air filter and spray disinfectant or ozium in the air. you need a mask, gloves, pced spoon, 5 quarts of spawn and an extra tub for a mixing box.
12. Clean your work area and prep all materials.
13. I use rubbing alcohol to clean each bin inside by hand. Then stuff the holes with fresh polyfil. Make sure you clean the top of the lid also because from here on out each lid stays on until the spawn is transferred from the mixing box into each chamber. Once the transfer is complete you don't open the bins again until it is time to case. The polyfil allows enough fresh air and co2 buildup for the perfect spawn run. The spawn run has always been no more than 4 days with this tek. If this doesn't happen you must have contamed something. It will probably smell sour- but that is a different lesson- lets concentrate on the tek for now!
14. Now I use 30 gallon black plastic trashbags and open the bags halfway. I then place them on the bottom of the chamber where the sides creep up the sides of the chamber.
once you place the plastic bag in the tub, put the sterile lid on top.
15. PAY CLOSE ATTENTION: Spawning must be done very quickly this is open air. And you must not breathe on it so wear a mask. The straw is also very vulnerable to contamination so we must use a lid on the mixing box.
16. Use another trash bag lined in a 64 quart bin for a mixing box. Make sure you rub the bin and lid down with alcholol before use. Then close the lid!
17. Here it is in a nutshell, Basically dump all 4 turkey tins very quickly in the mixing box and then add the straw.
18. Begin mixing the mix with your glove covered hands.
This mix will be light and fluffy and you want to MAKE SURE THAT YOU BREAK UP ANY CLUMPS OF STRAW. MAKE SURE ALL THE STRAW IS COMPLETELY COVERED BY THE DUNG. ALSO MAKE SURE THE EXTRA WATER IS SOAKED UP BY THE DUNG
Here the straw and dung are dumped into the mixing box!
The mix is then mixed by hand consistenly until it is almost the same texture as the previous mix. You want this light and fluffy feel to it everytime. Works like a charm!
19. It is easier to do this with two people, however you can do it alone. just make sure everytime you are done mixing close the lid. Keep as little air exposure as possible to prevent contamination.
20. Now you have to break up your 5 quart spawn jars and dump them right on top of this mix!
21. Now after that break up any seed that is stuck together by hand. Make sure each piece of wbs is broken up so that the spawn mixes better. You then make a twisting and turning moition and make sure you get the bottom of the mix. Try and mix it to where the spawn looks evenly mixed throughout the entire dung/straw.
22. Look closely and you can see the little white dots in the mix. This mix is almost done. It looks very even and consistent
.....Another view of the mix
.....Another.. I stress these pictures because they are very important!
This is the final product and the mix is done!
Finally Transfer handfulls of the mix into each separate chamber( 4 in all). The sub level should lineup just about an inch under where the polyfil holes are. The depth is about 4 inches. Spread the mix evenly and smoothely around the bottom of the chamber as if you were going to make a casing.
Let this incubate somewhere dark for 4-5 days. Then when it is fluffy whie it is time to case.
Casing: Casing is prepared excatly like the 50/50 dung/verm mix except the dung is substituted with coir! Then it is pced for 1 hour. This casing is the exact moisture content of all the mixes in this tek. Once you get this ratio down. It is a breeze because it is basically doing the same repetitiveness.
This is what the colonized sub bed will look like
Explanation:
The problem many people have is the part where the casing comes in. Now tek stresses the fine ground straw because it mixes in perfectly and doesn't leave any big pieces of uncolonized straw to get contamed. So the substrate should look like this in a few days. The best part of the clear bins is that they allow you to see when the bed is colonized before you give it air exposure.
Incubation can be helped by placing a dark black plastic sheet over the bins or a sleeping bag
....once the spawn has been colonized case it and incubate it for about 5 more days. sometimes the casing will colonize in 3 days but 5 is ideal!
After the casing has colonized, it will look like this on the outside of the chamber. Notice all that condensation. It may look like too much but it isn't. This plays a key role in the later flushes. It actually has enough moisture for a few flushes without rehydrating between flushes!
.....Now once the casing is colonozed just place the other sterile bin on top and let it sit in the light for about a week and you will begin to see pins!
And walla, the final product. Also take note that this chamber has only been opened two times. Once to add casing. And once to pick the fruits. The top chamber is then replaced after picking. If the casing is torn up patch small spots but don't add any extra water you will fuck the environment!
Notice the sides of the chamber. This condensation is created. It will build up and lower at the appropriate times of pinning, fruiting, and harvesting, then repinning. It is almost too perfect. YOu don't have to do shit for all you lazy mofo's out there! Go sit on the couch and rip the bong, bong rippas!
....This entire process probably takes close to one month but it lasts at least2 months of fruiting if you play your cards right. The average yield for these chambers is about 8-10 oz dry. But it has been reported to have 1lb flushes dry! from each tub. So next time your friend says they know all this shit and try and run you into the ground, you know you didn't do nearly as much work! lol
mature canopy!
....see the suns rays. it isn't advisable to have direct sunlight on the chamber. this may raise the temps in the chamber. use dim light but this is a nice little shot of the morning sun on the crop!
....You can see in this picture how fluffy and white the casing is below the mushrooms. look at the bottom left! This is what the ideal casing looks like!
z strain. oh yeah and just cause im a pro don't mean you can't do this! The above pics are my first try at this tek and this is how I did it.
I hope you have enjoyed Eat U's How To!
Ya' ll come back now ya hear!
The rest of the pictures will be uploaded in probably a week bc the shroomery limit on pictures so now I have to upload like 5 different days to put these pictures on the post!